


Saltwater Fixes Everything

by martinamarier



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, i just want more feedback, i submitted it for a local short story contest, if you don't that's okay too, thanks if you read this, this is an original short story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-12 17:48:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15345210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/martinamarier/pseuds/martinamarier
Summary: When Raina's best friend, Connor gets dumped by his boyfriend, her first thought is to plan an evening at the boardwalk that'll get his mind off of the situation. Over the course of several hours, she tries her best to lessen the unexpected pain that has been placed onto the person closest to her.





	Saltwater Fixes Everything

**Author's Note:**

> so... this is not a spierfeld fic. i apologize.  
> it's actually an original short story which i submitted into a local short story contest in hopes of possibly being published! it took a lot of editing to get this to its final state, but i guess that's something i have to get used to if i want to become a writer. ANYWAYS, thank you for taking the time to read this and i hope that you enjoy. (any kind of feedback is appreciated)

The low hum of my phone was enough to pull me from my dreams. I looked over at my clock. Two AM. Not good, I thought as I sat up in bed. I grabbed the phone, saw Connor’s name and answered without a second thought. 

He and I have been best friends since we first stayed in neighboring beach houses five years ago in Rehoboth Beach. I stumbled upon a beautiful sandcastle one day and, when he saw me, he asked if I wanted to build my own next to his. From that day on, for a whole summer, there wasn’t a day where we missed a chance to add on to our sandcastle city. Two years later, my parents committed to buying a permanent home in Lewes that was just a short drive to the beach. To my surprise, Connor’s family had already been living in Delaware, and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t gasp when I saw him on my first day of high school. So when I realized that it was him calling me so early in the morning, I couldn’t help the panic that rose in my stomach. 

Lately he’s been on cloud nine, but from the unmistakable shakiness in his voice, it doesn’t take long for me to assume that Ben had broken up with him. They started dating toward the end of sophomore year and just celebrated their one year anniversary last week which surprised even our parents. To be fair, he hasn’t had the best luck with relationships and when they are about to end, I always get this weird feeling. You could call it my sixth sense. But I guess that sense failed me this time. 

After listening to him ramble on about how Ben felt like they should “see other people” and letting him cry for a little while, I decided it was best for him to try and get some sleep.

I admit that staying up until ungodly hours that night trying to figure out what I could do for Connor might not have been my brightest idea, but I knew that it would be worth it.

I sent him a text letting him know that I’d be over soon and changed into my bathing suit, throwing a pair of distressed shorts and a tank top over them. Then, I walked out into the kitchen and grabbed my wallet. Before leaving, I wrote a note telling my parents where I would be in case they came home early from work and set it on the kitchen counter. 

Connor only lived a few blocks down the road, so I pulled into his driveway in no time. He walked outside in swim trunks and a tourist-like Ocean City tee. I unlocked the doors and he slid into the passenger seat with a barely visible smile replacing the toothy grins I was so used to.

“Hey,” he said quietly. 

“Hey! Ready for the best beach day ever?” I said, attempting to annoy him with my  
excessive enthusiasm. 

He glanced at me while pulling the seat belt over his shoulder. “Is that what this is? I thought you were just going to kidnap me.”

“Oh yeah, that too. We’re just going to the boardwalk first.”

He chuckled a little and shook his head. “As long as we get fries, I don’t care what you do with me.”

“It’s a date.”

“Sorry, you aren’t really my type.”

I rolled my eyes. “Funny. I definitely haven’t heard that one before.”

“Give me a break. I just got dumped, so that’s the best you’re going to get from me.”

After a half hour of trying to find a song on the radio that hadn’t already been overplayed and driving in circles to find a decent parking spot, Connor and I got out of the car to make our way to the boardwalk. Before we could get there though, he pulled on my shirt to slow me down.

“What?”

“Five Guys.”

“What about them?”

“Them? What- no. Not five guys, Five Guys. Fries. Remember?”

“Oh. Oh! Right, fries.”

He grabbed my hand and led me into the air conditioned building where he went right up to the cashier, ordering so quickly that I barely had time to find my cash.

“That’ll be $11.10.”

I set a twenty on the counter and let Connor collect the change while I walked over to pour our fountain drinks. A few seconds later, he was back at my side. 

“You abandoned me.”

“That’s a bit dramatic. I walked ten feet to your right and got you a soda.”

“Good point.”

When our order number was called, I took the grease stained bag and brought it to him.

“I already got napkins and ketchup because I don’t want to wait any longer.” He grabbed the bag from me and stepped outside, never braking before walking up onto the crowded boardwalk and sitting down on a bench that overlooked the ocean.

“Slow down, dude. You act like you haven’t had anything to eat in weeks.”

“What time is it?”

“Almost 3:00.”

“It’s been five hours since breakfast.”

“Whatever. Eat your fries.”

Without another word, he tore the bag open and pulled out a fry, not caring about letting them cool off. He was an animal when he ate, but he already seemed to be acting more like himself, so I let it slide.

“You know he told me that he wanted to end things for, like, a month, but he didn’t want to break up with me before our one year anniversary?” he said after we settled into a comfortable silence. “I think he just wanted to be able to say that he’s been in a year long relationship.” Connor plucked out another fry and dunked it in ketchup.

“So he kept it up until the anniversary passed?”

“Yup. Then he invited me over, tried to make me feel bad for him, and dumped me.”

“Con… we don’t have to talk about this.”

“No, it’s okay. I think I cried enough last night, so this is fine.”

I pouted and noticed the small dark circles under his eyes. He must’ve been exhausted.

“Really, Rein,” he said. “I’ll be alright. I was overwhelmed last night with everything and you wouldn’t have wanted to see me like that.”

I picked up one of the last fries. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, though.”

“I know it isn’t. I don’t know. I’m kind of glad I was alone.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Being with Ben…,” he started, “he was always around. And that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. But I haven’t had time like that to myself in months.”

“Months?”

He nodded. “Months. I was either at school, at your place, or with him. The only time I had alone was when I was doing homework on school nights or sleeping.”

“You used to love any time you had alone, Con. Then Ben came and, in a way, you sacrificed that so you could spend more time with him.”

He looked down and nodded a little. “Yeah. And I spent less time with my best friend.”

I stood up and tossed our empty cups and torn up bag into a trash can. “There is no way I’m letting you wallow in self pity tonight, dude.” 

Connor looked up at me and tilted his head like a confused dog. 

“Come on,” I said, holding my hands out to him and checking the time on my watch: 4:45. “The sun is going to set in a few hours and I want to go on the beach.”

He grabbed my hands and pulled himself up, holding onto one and intertwining our fingers. “We don’t have anything to sit on.”

“I’m already ahead of you, don’t worry.”

We found an exit and took our flip flops off, the soft sand cool between our toes. As we headed toward the ocean, I was instantly calmed by the sound of waves crashing onto the shore. 

He swung our hands a little and stood just past where the water meets the sand. “It feels nice,” he said when the first wave washed over our feet.

“For so early into summer, I’m surprised.”

“Me too.” I looked over at him and smiled. He saw me out of the corner of his eye and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“You look so relaxed. It’s nice.”

“I can’t think of a time when I was stressed out on the beach.”

“My mom always told us that there were magical powers here,” I said while wiggling my fingers to emphasize the magic.

He laughed and looked out at the horizon. “She still does.”

“Maybe she’s right.”

“She’s right about everything else. I wouldn’t be surprised.”

***

By the time we stepped away from the water and sat down in the sand, an hour had already passed. I took my shirt off and rolled it into a cylinder. “See? We don’t need towels.”

“That’s not fair because you have a top on underneath that, but now I have to take my whole shirt off.”

“Connor. It’s going to be dark out soon and I guarantee no one will judge you for taking your shirt off at the beach.”

He gave in and pulled it off, laying his head back on the makeshift pillow. “Pretty comfy.”

I laid back as well and looked up at the faint lines of clouds in the sky. “Mhm.”

We cloud watched as much as we could, though the options were limited. 

Connor broke the silence as the minutes ticked by. “Rein?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

I turned onto my side and furrowed my brows. “For what?”

“For today. For getting me out of the house and being awesome.”

“I’m your best friend, Con. It’s my job to be awesome.”

He laughed and turned his head to look at me. “Seriously. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“You would be very lost, my friend.”

“And I would have no one to blame whenever I got home past my curfew.”

“That was one time.”

“Try three,” he smiled and I was grateful to have my goofy best friend back, even for just a night.

“Look!” I pointed up to the cotton candy colored sky and his gaze followed my hand.

“Whoa.”

“Our first beach sunset of the summer.”

“And it’s our favorite kind.” Connor rested his hands behind his head and sighed. “That’s our luck, huh?”

“Sure is.”

“I think we have better luck when we’re together.”

“Or maybe things just never go wrong when we’re here.”

“Don’t start with the beach magic again.”

I laughed and looked over at him again. “Not magic. Just luck. And another thing that’s started to become posted everywhere in my house. It’s my mom’s favorite saying.”

“What’s that?” he asked while glancing at me with interest. His whole body seemed to relax, and the features on his face had released any tension that remained.

“Anytime I have a sore throat or if I’m stressed out about something, she gives me the same answer. It’s either ‘Gargle some saltwater!’ or ‘Let’s take a walk on the beach,’ because saltwater fixes everything.”

He hummed and closed his eyes, taking in every word. “I like that.”

“Do you think it’s true?”

He nodded. “I do.”

I shut my eyes and took in the scents of the salty breeze. “I do too.”

“I think you and I have been unknowingly living by that ever since we met,” he said. “I mean think about it. When you were thirteen and got your tonsils taken out, you thought you would never be able to eat your favorite foods again.”

“But my dad took us to get ice cream on the boardwalk,” I remembered.

“Exactly. And you didn’t cry anymore. Then, when I broke my arm that same summer, my mom let us spend our allowances on games at Funland.”

“I won you that giant teddy bear and she had to help us carry it home.”

He chuckled. “I can’t believe I still have that thing.”

“Neither can I. Oh!” I said, opening my eyes and looking at him. “Last summer was the first time either of us were able to drive ourselves around. You were dating that Alex kid and he stood you up at the movies.”

“But you swooped in, picked me up and took me to get funnel cake and point out guys who were better than him,” he said, eyes meeting mine. 

“Then there was that time when I let you cry on the phone over someone who didn’t deserve you.”

His face softened. 

“You sounded so broken and I was worried that this was going to be the one time where I couldn’t piece you back together,” I continued. “So I stayed up all night and thought about everything that makes you happy. Do you know what they all had in common?”

He shook his head.

“Everything on my list involved the beach: the ocean, funnel cake, sunsets, Funland…”

“Damn.” Silence passed between us. “You really made a list?” he asked.

“Of course I made a list.”

He smiled and looked up at the darkening sky. “I love you.”

I reached down and held his hand. “I love you too, Con. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Why would I be anything but okay when I’m with you?”


End file.
